Fun at Work? Yes Please!
Rachel Luoma
Most of the blogs I wrote for Partners were what I call “meat and potatoes” blogs. These technical articles focused on “meaty” topics such as finance, quality control, board orientations, certification management, managing volunteers, strategic planning, and more.
Were the articles helpful? Hopefully. Were the topics important? Most definitely. Were they fun? Probably not. In looking back at all of my previous blogs, I realized that I haven’t really written a fun blog. This makes a lot of sense to me as my kiddos and husband call me the fun killer. I guess, if there is an opportunity to have fun, I pretty much ruin it. But that stops today. Today, I am the facilitator of fun!
Here are some fun things we have done around the office that might spur your office to have a little more fun.
- Impromptu ice cream for all. Next time you are out
picking up your lunch, grab a few cartons of ice cream, maybe some ice cream sandwiches, oh, and some popsicles to share with the office. Note: freezer required for this fun option.
- Plan an off-site happy hour. Close the office an hour or two early and invite people to meet up at a local establishment to celebrate something (anything).
- Add an icebreaker to each meeting. All of our staff meetings kick off with an icebreaker question, which provides our team members a nice chance to share fun facts and learn more about each other. Here are some that I found online https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/team-building-icebreaker-questions.
- Celebrate a holiday. Have a themed holiday celebration – even if it is made up. For example, June 23rd is Take Your Dog to Work Day. 😉 BONUS TIP: Ask remote team members to share photos of their dogs too. Learn more about various fun holidays at https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/.
- Trivia games. We love a good trivia game. Add some trivia questions to a staff meeting or host a virtual trivia event. Slido is a great platform that has a free plan for creating fun trivia games. https://www.slido.com.
- Have a potluck. Food = fun. Pick a date, post a sign-up sheet and let people bring in items to share. I personally loved our Oktoberfest potluck that we held last year. BONUS TIP: Send remote team members a small gift card so they can eat some food too.
- March Madness Tournament. Each year, we have a March Madness tournament, where our office team members can print the bracket and pick who they think is going to win. Prizes are given to the top winners. It would also be cool to add a prize for the top loser.
- Arts and crafts. For a
recent Earth Day, we had the opportunity to create our own plants. Supplies such as disposable pots, seeds and soil were provided. It was a fun way to celebrate the earth and craft together. BONUS TIP: Send arts and crafts kits to remote team members so they can join in on the fun.
- Office space decorating contest. If you want to make a holiday more fun – add a little competition. Create an office space decorating contest where team members can decorate for a holiday and all team members can vote on their favorite space. BONUS TIP: Use language pertaining to office space versus office as not all team members may have an office.
- Beach Day. Why not have a day at the beach…at the office. Plan a beach day where people can wear shorts, hats and flip flops. Let team members bring a chair and enjoy some time outside with beach-themed food and drinks.
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it! I will say that writing this blog makes me realize how much fun we get to have at work, to which I am so very grateful.
What are some fun ideas that you have implemented at your office? Please feel free to share.
Rachel Luoma, MS, CAE – Vice President
Rachel has been involved in associations for over 15 years and has experience in all areas of association management. She holds a Master’s Degree in Adult Education and holds the Certified Association Executive designation. Rachel was named a Young and Aspiring Professional by Association Trends Magazine, Executive of the Year by the Florida Society of Association Executives and was recognized as one of Association Forum’s and USAE’s Forty Under 40® Awards recipients. She is a former Chair of the Florida Society of Association Executives. Fun Fact(s): When she’s not doing her association management thing, Rachel rocks out as lead singer with Tallahassee’s hottest cover band – Suckerdust!
